History Became Legend
by lillyarie
Summary: This is not girl dropped into Middle Earth, nor is it Legolas wakes up in modern times. This is what might happen if everyone knew Middle Earth was real, and if certain Elves decided not to sail to the Undying Lands... R&R, M to be safe, Legolas/OC, AUish


**Hey guys. So, here's my disclaimer: I don't own LOTR or anything Tolkien related. I don't know much about England because I'm from Canada, so bear with me. I made up some of the things in this fanfic, like the university and stuff. Hey, it's fanFICTION, right? Enjoy.

Soft wind whipped past Ellie's long dark locks. She brushed the pieces away from her face and bent down onto the stone in front of her, taking a closer look.

"It's a firepit," she guessed, turning to her professor. "Is that right?"

The professor grinned at her. "Yes. Perfect." He tapped the circluar stone with a white knuckle. "The people of Minas Tirith used this structure as a warning signal. When the fire was lit, it signalled the other cities to light their fires to call for aid."

"How far did they stretch?" she asked, intrigued.

"As far off as Rohan," the professor answered.

Ellie nodded. Because the campus was so close to ancient Gondor (when really, they were in modern-day England) they often went on day trips there to study the ruins. This was the first time they had been allowed to actually ascend the ruins with their guide though. Normally, they searched for arrowheads and other such things in the once-great Pellenor Fields, which got boring very quickly.

Looking way, way down from the top of what used to be the White city, Ellie smiled. She was reminded for the millionth time why she was _so_ lucky to have gotten a scholarship to study Archaeology in England. More specifically, it was the mythology and history of the Middle Earth era that intrigued her. Way way back in the 1800's, a researcher named Gustoff Mendelov discovered ancient scrolls in Minas Tirith's walls that confirmed the existence of Dwarves, Elves, and unfathomable creatures called Orcs (among others) in ancient times. Ellie had always been interested in it… and to attend the relatively new-ish Pellenor University to study what she loved most? A dream! She was only twenty, but she was absolutely sure this was what she wanted to do forever.

"Alright everyone, we're done for the day!" Professor Smythe shouted. A few people poked their heads out of the ruins and laughed. Ellie joined her friend Alanna on the stairs. At first she had felt left out being the only person who wasn't purely English, but she eventually fit right in. She couldn't believe she'd been there almost a year.

"That was so neat!" Ellie squealed. She sighed. "This is my favourite of all the Middle Earth ruins."

"Is it?" Alanna walked a bit more quickly down the stairs, because she was tall, blond and long-legged. Ellie had long legs but a shorter overall physique, but both girls were cute in different ways. "My favourite is Isengaard."

Ellie frowned. "I've never been."

"Really? You've never ventured out on the invisible map of Middle Earth that's all over England?"

Ellie shook her head. "I always feel so busy to really travel. I mean, that field trip we took to Rohan was really neat, and I've seen the Isengaard ruins in my books, but…" She sighed again. "Every chance I can get to fly back home for a while, I do. I'd rather see my family."

"Well that's understandable." It took a long time to reach the bottom of the ancient city, so both girls breathed heavily between their sentences. "We should go sometime. Or are you going home for the summer?"

"I haven't even thought about it. I'm so stressed out about the exams."

Alanna laughed. "It won't be that bad."

"Yes it will! I've never done GSCE type things…. in America we just had final exams and that was it. And this is _university_!"

"If you study, you'll be just fine," Alanna droned, imitating Professor Smythe. Both girls giggled and were among the last to join their group in Pellenor fields, where a bus was waiting to take them back on the hour-long journey to campus.

Tonnes had changed since the Middle Earth days. Most huge ancient sites, like Minas Tirith and Osgiliath, remained standing and were protected under organizations like UNESCO and History Helpers. Smaller sites, however, were taken over as the population of Britain continued to grow. Roads past Minas Tirith were always freqeunted by touring pensioners and history buffs, which did not amuse the commuters who took the route to work every day. Most of the old world was lost to myth and legend, but more was being discovered every day.

Just months before, Ellie's professor had mentioned that the Elves of the ancient world could still exist on the planet.

"But sir," she had asked, "is this not impossible? Surely Elven _descendants_ may still exist, but nothing more."

The professor had shared with them a rather interesting bit of myth: the Elves of Middle Earth were said to have been immortal. Far away, in a place called River Diel (the long ago Rivendell), texts had been discovered that backed up this myth. But that was all it was, Ellie had argued. It was a simple dumb myth.

"Now consider this though," the professor had challenged. "People of ancient times, like the men and women of Middle Earth, still exist today. They are you and I. So why is it not possible that Elves and Dwarves may as well?"

"Dwarves do," another girl had pointed out. She blushed as she added, "Well, like… little people anyways. Or maybe they're Hobbits."

The professor nodded. "And is it not possible that these creatures have just simply evolved with the modern times, like their human counterparts did? If everyone was still as they were in Middle Earth, you would all be wearing long dresses and tunics, and you would not have laptops on your desks. In fact, you probably would not have a desk."

"So what you're saying is you think there are a bunch of Elves living among humans that are thousands of years old, but they've adapted to the changing times and are just living like normal chaps?" queried another boy.

The professor nodded. "This is not a new theory. Several years after Mendelov, a French theorist named Michele-Claude Dieppe offered up this same theory. It is also entirely possible that when the races of men began to die out, and the Elves were outlasting them, they married humans and had cross-bred families. Such is one famous example of King Aragorn of Gondor in the Third Age, who fell in love with an Elven princess named Arwen and married her. They had a son whose name was Eldarion, who carried on the kingdom as the first 'half-blood' prince."

"Like in Harry Potter!" shouted a heckler, and the class giggled.

"Yes, if you must. The point is that it is quite possible that Elves live among humans, whether as full-blood Elves or of mixed blood. Any one of us in this room could be an elf!"

The class laughed again. "But _sir_," one student insisted, "did the myth not also clearly state all of the Elves sailed to the Undying Lands or whatever?"

The professor rocked on his heels in front of the classroom. Ellie had been furiously taking notes. "The text stated this, but surely not all of the Elves sailed there. Arwen did not; she stayed with Aragorn until his death and died after he did. It is never made clear that all others sailed across."

"Where is it anyways? Is it like America?"

"It is not known for sure, but that is a popular theory."

Ellie and Alanna had argued that night (goodnaturedly, of course) over the professor's announcement, and on the way back from the ruins, Ellie brought it up again.

"Alanna, if there were Elves that still lived, why do think none of them has come forward to say that they are one?"

Alanna rolled her eyes and opened her window. Mid-April, it was hotter than usual, and the sun shone. "Oy, Ellie, are you back on this again? The professor was pulling a fast one you know."

"He wasn't!" Ellie protested. "I looked up that French dude, and dozens of other historians and stuff had the samre theories." She rolled her own brown eyes to the ceiling. "I mean, any Elf who came forward would be famous!"

"Well then maybe they wouldn't want to be put on display like a circus animal, Elle," Alanna said while looking outside at the rolling hills and far off mountains that were once Mordor. "Besides, do you know how mad you'd seem if you came forward and said, 'Oy, I'm an elf, I'm three thousand years old and I will outlive you all!'?" She snorted. "It's _history_, Ellie. And some of it is myth. I know they say most Elves never aged, but there's no way they'd be living now. Why would they even want to? We have global warming."

Both girls laughed and the subject was dropped.

Inside Ellie's mind, however, it was not. Dwarves and Hobbits probably still existed in some form… they had been discovered years back, random folks with very hairy toes and short stature. People had gone crazy. This was only a couple of years after the movies came out.

The Lord of the Rings. A phenomenon when they came out, they'd been written by a man called J.R.R. Tolkien, based upon his knowledge of Middle Earth history and a bit of his own artistic liscence thrown in. He'd also written a few other books based upon the myths, notably the story of the hobbit who fought a dragon, but LOTR was the most popular. When the movies came out, England received some of the highest tourism it had ever gotten. Thousands of people were buying plane tickets to come and visit the ancient ruins that the stories and movies were portraying for entertainment.

Ellie wondered how much was myth, and how much really was true. Dragons _may_ be accepted, as well as dark lords (Hitler anyone?). Orcs… sure, maybe. Deformities still existed in people and Orcs seemed to possess these. Hobbits, Dwarves,… why not?

But Elves and magic rings didn't comply with what Ellie's brain could handle. Immortality and magic powers, wizards… maybe Gandalf had been an ancient "sorcerer" in real life, but no way did he have the powers desribed in the myths. It was simply not possible! As for Elves…

Ellie shrugged and let the thought disappear from her mind. A few weeks in the future, a select few were granted permission to assist on a dig at some ruins in Rohan, closer to Fairhead Forest (formerly Fangorn). She couldn't wait to see what she'd discover there.

*Hey guys. I know that part had no Legolas, but I think you can guess that he's coming soon! Hahaha. Anyways, I hope you guys didn't find that too boring, I just wanted it to open the story and explain what the world in this story is like (Middle Earth being a reality, just like ancient Egypt or Greece or something). Comments are appreciated, I'd love to know what you liked or didn't like!


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